October 26, 2004

Environmental Watch: Norton-Arnold wins Canadian contract

SEATTLE — Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans contracted with Seattle-based Norton-Arnold & Co. to lead workshops on ways to recover salmon species listed as endangered under Canada's Species at Risk Act.

As part of its $70,000 contract, Norton-Arnold will lead 16 workshops in October and November in British Columbia. Sessions will be held in remote and urban areas including Prince Rupert, Kamloops, Chilliwack and Vancouver Island. Input from First Nations, representatives of the fishing industry and the public will be used to develop recovery strategies, which will go to Canada's Minister of the Environment for approval.

PSU sustainability workshop in Singapore

PORTLAND — Portland State University will launch an outreach program on sustainability education in Singapore, with a workshop there from Nov. 2 to 4. PSU faculty, and industry and government experts from Asia and the U.S. are hosting the workshop on opportunities and cost savings sustainability strategies can offer.

Workshops will address the expensive choices firms and governments face in quickly growing countries in Asia, and how businesses can reduce environmental impacts so they can avoid government sanctions and ensure access to global markets.

PSU says it plans to hold a similar workshop in China in early 2005. For more information, call program director Lee Kuhre at at (503) 725-8556.

Green power's ‘founding fathers' to speak

PORTLAND — Portland-based Ecos Consulting will host a panel discussion Nov. 4 on energy efficiency. "Founding Fathers of Energy Efficiency" will be held at Portland State University's Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Panelists are Ralph Cavanagh, a senior lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council; Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; and Art Rosenfeld, commissioner of the California Energy Commission.

They will speak on ideas they put forward 25 years ago on how to meet growing electricity demand through investments other than new power plants, and opportunities that lie ahead. Panelists will speak on how their ideas have been realized and what obstacles remain.

The event is free and open to the public. Reserve by contacting Ecos Consulting at (503) 224-1417 or see http://www.ecosconsulting.com/reserve.

Ecos was founded by people in the utility industry, environmental community, government and academia. Ecos works on finding opportunities for energy efficiency in the marketplace as well as encouraging use of technologies that are better for the environment.

Green building class in Spokane Nov. 4

SPOKANE — A free workshop on green building takes place Nov. 4 at the AGC Building, 4935 E. Trent in Spokane from 1 to 4 p.m. Hosted by the Construction and Industrial Workforce Development Center, the workshop is intended to help design and construction firms bid for new public construction projects that will be required to be built green.

Design and construction firms will need to be proficient in sustainable building practices and the LEED scoring system, but so will work crews, managers and site superintendents.

For more information about "The Why, What and How of Green Building" workshop, call the Construction and Industrial Workforce Development Center at (509) 535-0391.

NW Maritime Center dock wins award

PORT TOWNSEND — The Northwest Maritime Center's new dock is one of eight urban waterfront projects to win an award from the Washington, D.C.-based Waterfront Center. Architect Brian Court of Seattle's Miller/Hull Partnership said the dock was recognized for its attention to the site's ecology. It won in the environmental protection category.

Its eelgrass-friendly ecological design was done by Sequim-based Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory. Area high school students recently started monitoring eelgrass plantings.

The Waterfront Center's competition recognizes urban waterfront projects, plans and citizen efforts. Others winners included projects in Minneapolis, New York and Vancouver, B.C.

Tagro gets award from EPA

TACOMA — Tagro, the city of Tacoma's line of gardening products made from biosolids, recently earned a first-place award from the Environmental Protection Agency. Tagro is short for Tacoma Grow.

EPA recognized Tacoma's introduction of mulch and potting soil, and the city's biosolids production process, which has been changed in ways that have helped overcome odor problems as well as expand markets for biosolids products.

Gardeners have been using Tagro products in landscaping, vegetable gardens and large-scale commercial areas since 1989. The city of Tacoma donates its harvest of more than 3,000 pounds of Tagro-grown produce to local food banks each year. For more information, call (253) 502-2150 or see http://www.tagro.com.

Tacoma cleans up garbage truck emissions

TACOMA — The city of Tacoma's fleet services division retrofitted 48 garbage trucks with mufflers designed to cut tailpipe emissions, smoke and odor in half. The division maintains 1,400 vehicles and equipment.

"We'll have the cleanest running trucks around, so clean you can almost sniff the tailpipes," said fleet services division manager Steve Hennessey.

The city used part of a $100,000 grant from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to retrofit mufflers with a diesel oxidation catalyst. The porous, ceramic structure uses chemicals to break down exhaust pollutants into less harmful components.

The city is also using biodiesel, a renewable product made from soybean oil, for cleaner emissions. Tacoma's garbage trucks run on a blend of one-fifth biodiesel and four-fifths petroleum diesel. Next year the city plans to introduce "ultra-low" sulfur petroleum diesel, which the city says will reduce harmful emissions up to 90 percent.

DNR gets $25K grant for fire prevention

OLYMPIA — State Farm Insurance gave the Department of Natural Resources a $25,000 grant to create a video and brochure on how to prevent wildfires. Property owners can use the new materials to learn how to use fire-safe landscaping techniques to protect homes.

"We may be in different businesses," said Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland, "but we share a common goal in reducing the risk of wildfire."

Each year DNR spends more than $25 million fighting wildfires in Washington. DNR is responsible for helping prevent wildfires on 12 million acres of private and state-owned forestland.

The video will cover how to use native vegetation to create a fuel break that reduces risk of wildfire but still attracts wildlife. The brochure will show homeowners how to create defensible spaces where firefighters can operate if wildfires approach. Ways to create such spaces are by thinning certain kinds of trees and shrubs, removing dead vegetation and planting more fire-resistant materials. The video and brochure will be ready by the end of the year.